“Healthcare is a strategic imperative for us,” Abney said.
“We deliver a lot of important things, but lab [shipments] are critical, and
they’re very much a part of patient care.”

UPS entered the healthcare sector in 2000 with its acquisition of Livingston HealthCare. In 2016, the company acquired Marken, a move that Abney said, “sent a clear message to our customers that we were taking healthcare and clinical trials very seriously.”

UPS Chairman and CEO David Abney (above) explained the company’s new drive toward drone technology in medical laboratory specimen transport and logistics. Abney closed Day 1 sessions at the 24th Annual Executive War College on Lab and Pathology Management. (Photo copyright: DARK Daily.)﻿

Clinical Laboratory
Specimens Delivered by Drone

With healthcare deliveries already a big part of UPS’ ground
business, the company now moves lab specimens by drone on WakeMed’s hospital campus in
Raleigh, N.C. The effort marks the first commercial daily drone service to be
cleared by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for lab specimen
transport, and it is made possible through UPS’s new partnership with Menlo
Park, Calif.-based Matternet.

Matternet Founder and CEO Andreas Raptopoulos described how the new technology is impacting turnaround time, specimen stability, and viability. The “Future of Lab Logistics” session at EWC, featuring Raptopoulos and Shannon DeMar, Senior Marketing Manager Healthcare Strategy at UPS in Atlanta, Ga., brought questions about FAA regulations, risk mitigation, and more. Laboratory leaders are looking at how to take their logistics to the next level.

On-Demand/Same-Day
Delivery of Medical Lab Samples

The UPS/Matternet program represents a major milestone for
unmanned aviation in the United States, according to UPS, in a recent release.
Currently, the majority of medical samples and specimens are transported across
WakeMed’s expanding health system by courier cars. The addition of drone
transport provides an option for on-demand and same-day delivery, the ability
to avoid roadway delays, increase medical delivery efficiency, lower costs, and
improve the patient experience.

How drones, sensors, and new technologies are poised to
increase the quality and accuracy of specimen transport and logistics
represented just a slice of the first full day of sessions at Executive War
College. UPS is an official partner and sponsor.

Also speaking at the 24th Annual Executive War College on
Lab and Pathology Management:

Evolving market trends are creating both concern and
opportunities for the clinical laboratory industry. New sources of revenue are essential
at a time when fee-for-service prices for lab tests are decreasing.